The civilizations choir of Antakya: The politics of religious tolerance and minority representation at the national margins of Turkey

Abstract

This article examines the politics of minority representation focusing on the Civilizations Choir of Antakya, a multireligious ensemble formed in the mid-2000s against the backdrop of Turkey's democratization process and involvement in globally funded programs of intercultural dialogue. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the choir's hometown, Antakya, near Turkey's border with Syria, I compare the experiences of Arabic-speaking religious groups who simultaneously represent and are represented in the choir. These experiences, I argue, manifest different historical positions and political tensions that defy the choir's categorization of minority religions as equally representable constituents of a tolerant nation. Together, they expose the uncertainties of ethno-religiously defined citizenship and the representational work such uncer tainties demand for constructing nationhood. By analyzing this process, the article foregrounds representational politics as one key site for the anthropological study of religious diversity, and for addressing broader problems of minority recognition inherent in liberal regimes of tolerance.